Rice spoke to a group of college players at the camp at Kean University and spent the rest of the day watching the workouts on the sideline.

Three months after a firing centered on physically abusive practices as Rutgers' coach, Nike's camp for top college and high school players marks Rice's first steps back into national mainstream basketball competition.

For five weeks, Rice had been undergoing anger management counseling at the John Lucas Wellness and Aftercare Program in Houston, and working with some players engaging in pre-NBA draft preparation in Lucas' gym.

Rice had been fired after video tape evidence surfaced of him throwing basketballs, shoving players and yelling homophobic slurs. Rice had been the head coach at Rutgers for three years, and spent two years as Robert Morris' head coach.